US stocks slide during opening hour of trade

Major US equity indices extended previous session's retracement from record highs and traded in negative territory during opening hour of trade on Wednesday.

Market participants attributed today's decline to the US President Donald Trump's abrupt decision to fire FBI director James Comey, which could possibly hinder the progress in securing congressional support for passage of his pro-growth economic policies. 

At the time of writing, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost around 50-points to 20,927, while the broader S&P 500 Index was down around 2-points to 2,395. Meanwhile, tech-heavy Nasdaq Composite Index dropped 5-points to 6,115.

It, however, remains to be seen if the pull-back turns out to be a knee-jerk reaction or triggers a sustainable change in market direction. 

On the economic data front, April reading on the US import prices showed a rise of 0.5% on a monthly basis and the previous month's reading was also revised higher to show an advance of 0.1%, as compared to drop of 0.2% reported earlier. Today's data revealed persistent inflationary pressure in the US economy (part of the Fed's dual mandate) and reaffirmed expectations for a gradual Fed rate-tightening cycle through 2017.